Long story short...
My neighbor "rescued" a perfectly fine baby map turtle from a creek about a year ago. When I moved in I saw the disaster of a 10g tank he was keeping it in, and offered to rescue it myself. I've been through a few tanks with her so far but I don't have the correct tank for her. At first I kept her in my 55g with my aggressive fish, but didn't have the correct hood to allow for proper basking area. All else I had was a 20g rimless I was planning to do intensive aquascaping in so for now I made a tiny beach and basking area. Only about 10g total of water in the tank. I KNOW I can't keep her in here for much longer and I feel absolutely horrible about the conditions she's being kept in. I do not have the funds/space to get a proper sized tank. My question now is would it be ok to take her back to that same creek and release her into the wild? She has been in captivity for over a year now and I'm horribly afraid she won't remember how to hunt. My other option is taking her to a LFS and hoping for the best but the odds of her ending up in a good home are slim to none. Nevertheless, something needs to happen soon. I don't want her in this tiny tank any longer than she has to be. Please help.

Rob in Puyallup

04-21-2013 05:49 AM

Re: Map Turtle Help

Turtles have been around for a zillion years. I'm thinking that they're pretty much hardwired for hunting and catching food.

If she's healthy, eating and catching live fish in her tank she shouldn't have any problems in her native home.

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Kirbybtf

04-21-2013 06:02 AM

That's part of the problem, she completely ignores any and all fish in her tank. I stocked the 20g with 2 feeder fish and she pays no attention to them. Hence why I'm worried she wont hunt in the wild.

Fishumms

04-21-2013 11:31 PM

I do not know how helpful this experience will be, but I will relate it anyway. I had some tree frogs that had come from tadpoles a friend of mine rescued from a drying puddle. At certain times it seemed that they would completely ignore their food, crickets, for up to a month at a time. They never seemed unhealthy and they were always very active and loud and reproduced with no problems. The only thing I could attribute it to was changes in the seasons. Also, we have to remember that frogs/ turtles are cold blooded. They really don't need to eat quite like us mammals do.

Also, a friend of mine had a turtle, who eventually dug out of his yard and escaped, but he had a similar experience as you have. Basically, he fed the turtle table scraps, and it became to lazy to ever bother with any feeder fish. They all survived and are now rather large goldfish in his pond.

Fishermike

04-22-2013 02:16 AM

It's best not to release animals that have been kept with non-natives for any length of time. You never know what they may be a asymptomatic carriers of - you could release a new disease or parasite into your area.

Here in CA, it's illegal to release native desert tortoises that have been in captivity due to their potential to infect the wild population. Just re-home the turtle if you don't want it anymore. Map turtles are popular, shouldn't be too hard to find somebody who wants it.

Lia

04-25-2013 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirbybtf
(Post 3182521)

That's part of the problem, she completely ignores any and all fish in her tank. I stocked the 20g with 2 feeder fish and she pays no attention to them. Hence why I'm worried she wont hunt in the wild.

They dont eat fish in the wild but snails, crayfish , aquatic insects, well they do eat dead fish but other than the big females they don't go after them.

My friend has maps and sliders in her pond and the maps never go after fish unless dead.

The Map will do fine in any pond, lake .

Kirbybtf

04-25-2013 04:28 PM

Re: Map Turtle Help

Good news. She is happily living in my cichlid tank now, with a beautiful basking spot and 60 gallons of swimming room. Fresh veggies daily and fish friends. My yellow lab is acting very strange and seems to have become quite enamored with the turtle! It never leaves her side. It's quite adorable :)

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Lia

04-25-2013 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirbybtf
(Post 3218194)

Good news. She is happily living in my cichlid tank now, with a beautiful basking spot and 60 gallons of swimming room. Fresh veggies daily and fish friends. My yellow lab is acting very strange and seems to have become quite enamored with the turtle! It never leaves her side. It's quite adorable :)

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60 gallon will be great for life and they are tad shy not as big baskers as sliders.

Is she eating the veggies?

They are more carnivorous than not. Turtle pellets is great.

Kirbybtf

04-25-2013 04:57 PM

Re: Map Turtle Help

She is basking almost every time I see her. Yes she loves cucumber, and I feed her blood worms and my cichlid pellets which have d3 in them. Getting romaine lettuce today to add to the variance. I'm just so happy we were able to keep her and house her properly :) she seems so much happier in there too. I'll post a picture tonight.

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Lia

04-30-2013 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirbybtf
(Post 3218498)

She is basking almost every time I see her. Yes she loves cucumber, and I feed her blood worms and my cichlid pellets which have d3 in them. Getting romaine lettuce today to add to the variance. I'm just so happy we were able to keep her and house her properly :) she seems so much happier in there too. I'll post a picture tonight.

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Go figure. My friend has a few in her pond and very shy plus they rarely touch her floating plants .